Dance - the life and soul of the nation

To the accompaniment of rhythmical strikes of a 'doira' (tambourine) a girl is twisting in a dance. Caught by the quick motions of the dance, light tucks of silken skirt are flying and wavering; dark braids are streaming in the air; feet in silken baggy trousers, at the ankle gripped by an embroidered strap 'djiak', appear for a moment; the heels of the shoes are tapping rhythmically. Suddenly, the girl stands motionless, and only her hands are flickering in keeping with the drumming, coming from under the skillful fingers of the doira player; the dancer's shoulders are moving gently; the sparkling of the black eyes rivals the glittering of the jewelry. And next moment, again, she is caught in the whirl of a dance. Uzbek national dances, passionate and exciting, leave no one unaffected. In old times they said that a dancer had to be able to tell with his dance of man's high feelings, happiness and sorrows, his delights and misfortune, his dreams.

Traditions of the Uzbek national art of dancing date back to ancient times. In the numerous monuments of Hellenic age, which have been found throughout Uzbekistan, very often there occur the images of musicians and dancing girls, wrapped in light clothes and captured in complicated scenic movements. In medieval miniatures dance was one of the invariable attributes of the pictures depicting the life of the court. In the ancient times national dances appeared and developed as ritual performances dedicated to religious, mystic and militant rites. People danced while celebrating various events - harvest time, wedding, birth of a child...

Ancient Sogdian dances, as a rule, had its own plotline. Nowadays one can watch the dance called "Katta Uyin" ("Big Game"). The legends tell us that this dance existed in the times of Alexander the Great. "Katta Uyin" is a dance suite, composed of dozens of rhythmic parts, 'usuls'. Their names figuratively reflect emotional state of the dance: dildir' - splashes, 'yurga' - amble, 'sarboz'" - militant, 'sandra' - burial...

Yet in the 19th century "Katta Uyin" was not just a dance but a complicated show, a peculiar performance with an intrigue, change of costumes and light effects and it composed of two hundred and eighty usuls.

Scientists assume that "Katta Uyin" was based on ancient traditions and legends. Sogdians used to celebrate beginning of the spring, which they called Navruz and which was devoted to the death and resurrection of local deity Siyavush. The whole community of a village or a town took part in celebration of the holiday. According to the legend, Siyavush was born by a beautiful forest goddess. After having given birth to the son of the king of Iran Key-Kaus she died. Young Siyavush grew very quickly, making all those round him be astonished by his beauty, strength and generosity. Having attained the adult age, Siyavush turned down a sinful passion of his mother-in-law, who in revenge calumniated him. But the young man proved his innocence by undergoing the test by fire. He married a daughter of Turan king Afrosiab, the legendary founder of Samarkand. But his happiness did not last long. His enemies slandered him and killed. Haoma, the god of trees and cereals, took revenge for Syavush, and made him rise from the ashes same way as nature revives in the spring.

Watching usuls of "Katta Uyin" one by one, it becomes clear that the legend of Siyavush was taken as a basis for the intrigue of the dance, and the choreographic episodes are devoted to the life, death and resurrection of the legendary young man.

Centuries separate us from nameless creators of the dance "Zang". There resounds muted jingling of little golden bells on the wrists and ankles of dancing girls dressed in austere but picturesque costumes of ancient amazons. These bells tell about brave and dashing horsewomen of Queen Tamaris who defeated the violent conqueror two thousand years ago, and about forty women-warriors who in old times used to saddle horses and handle the sword to repulse enemies' attacks.

The Great Silk Road that for thousands of years connected the Orient and the Occident, was not only the trade highway. It was also the link for spiritual contacts between countries. Mixture of cultural traditions of Sogdiana, Khorezm, Bactria, India, China and Iran made for emergence of original dancing style. At that period the fame of Sogdian dancing girls reached the farthest countries. From Chinese chronicles of the 8th century it is known that Sogdian rulers sent the girls skillful in dancing and music as a gift to the lords of China.

In the 9th-10th centuries the binding dramatic intrigue was no longer present in a dance whereas priority was given to rhythmics and symbolism of movements. Music, singing and dance were called 'khona bazm uyin', indoor intimate entertainment for the court noblemen. And it was poses and exciting 'dance of hands' rather than 'pas' that became so important.

In Temurids' times, which are known as Central Asian Renaissance, the art of court dances gained a great success. Dancers invariably participated in holidays that were held at the court of Amir Temur. Chroniclers recorded the names of some outstanding masters of 'khona bazm uyin', who were no less popular than famous poets and artists of that time. Thus, the history has retained the name of Said Badr, court dancer and improvisator.

But alongside with this sophisticated art of dancing there existed folk theatrical performances. On the market squares there danced street actors - maskaraboz. As a rule these were men who performed comic pantomimes and even female dances. Rope-walkers, darvozs and simdors, the favorites of people, quite often were great dancers. Dancing was part of the performances of jugglers who entertained the public by their sleight of hands while throwing up and catching the clay dishes and plates. In Khorezm the most popular dance was "Otash Uyin", during which a performer juggled with burning torches. It is curious that in the Middle Ages professional dancers, with the exception their court colleagues, were regarded as craftsmen and like potters or tanners united into guilds.

In the Middle Ages there was formed traditional musical and vocal genre of maqom. Maqoms consisted of instrumental, vocal and dancing forms - 'ufar'. In different periods the texts of maqoms poetically expressed mystic philosophy of Sufism or classic epic poems. Even today the classic music of maqom is rather popular, whereas its dancing forms act as peculiar emotional illustrations of poetic texts. The art of performing choreographic maqoms made many professional dancers famous.

In the art of dancing there have been developed three main schools: Ferghana school of local dance, Bukhara school and Khorezm school.

Ferghana dances are pathetic, sincere, and gentle in performance, with graceful movements of head and shoulders, light flying steps and round waves of hands that make complicated patterns in the air. Slow flow of dance is changed in sudden abrupt whirling and light graceful pirouettes.

Bukhara dances are stately, full of pride, with lively sliding movements resembling the shimmering effect of gold embroidery of Bukhara needlewomen. The gait of Bukhara dancing women is springy and is accompanied with clicking of their shoe heels; innumerable number of impetuous whirling is inherent to these dances. The movements of dancers' hands are decorative and filled with strong emotions.

Khorezm dances are impulsive, spectacular, with abrupt movements, full of vigour, especially men's dances performed to the accompaniment of original stone castanets - 'kayraks' which require virtuosity of performance. A prominent Uzbek dancer Tamara Khanum wrote, "In Khorezm dances there is a lot of sentimental lyricism, typical of the dances from Ferghana, exquisite nobleness of dances of ancient Bukhara, and at the same time, they are full of energy of the sun, filled with an extraordinary lively passion"

Experts called Ferghana dances 'the dances of spring with rapid thawing of snow', Bukhara dances - 'dances of the hot summer', and Khoresm dances - 'dances of generous autumn'.

Almost every region of Uzbekistan has dances with deep national traditions. The dance of Tashkent "Bayot" and the dance of Samarkand "Besh-karsak" are performed to an accompaniment of rhythmical clapping of the hands and snapping of the fingers, as palms are the most ancient 'musical instrument'. The movements of Andijan dance are associated with the national horse game 'ulak'. In the valley of Surkhandarya, women dance to an accompaniment of decorated wooden spoons.

The persons who renovated the Uzbek art of dancing in the first half of the 20th century were well-known dancers Tamara Hanum and Mukarram Turgunbayeva.

In 1957 Mukarram Turgunbayeva founded a women's ensemble of folk dance "Bahor" ('Spring'). Dances staged by her on the basis of the national choreography, "Tanovor", "Farghona Ruboisi", "Munojot", enjoyed wide popularity and became really national dances.

A dancing woman is whirling; hands up like the stalks of young green plants; then they are bending as if under the gusts; fingers are grouped together in the form of a bud, and shaking rhythmically they suddenly open wide like a cup of a flower in blossom. In Uzbekistan everybody dances. People dance in the squares on the Independence Day; in the streets while celebrating Navruz holiday in the spring; at wedding parties and at celebrations devoted to the birth of a child; they dance for their guests or for the good of their souls.

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